The Internet Is Furious About Diablo Immortal

Six years after the launch of Diablo 3, and with the franchise getting the bulk of love on the Blizzcon main stage for the first time in aeons, fans were hopeful for even a tease of a new Diablo.

And Blizzard delivered a mobile game. Unsurprisingly, the backlash was swift.

There's no reason Diablo can't, or won't, offer a substantial experience on the small screen. Dungeon crawlers are one genre that has ported over to mobiles well. Having a single virtual joystick and smaller icons for actions is a pretty common setup for mobile games now: you see it a lot in MOBAs, like Arena of Valor or Vainglory.

But a mobile Diablo was not what fans have been waiting for. So it's not surprising that, at the time of writing, the Diablo Immortal trailer had just under 400 likes, with the dislikes approaching almost 10,000. The cinematic trailer has copped the backlash even harder, with just over 600 likes to around 17,000 dislikes.

The reaction on the show floor has been harsh, too. During the Q&A section of the Diablo panel immediately after the opening ceremony, one fan asked: "Is this an out of season April Fool's joke?"

Combined with the confirmation that Immortal wasn't coming to PC, and that it's described as an MMOARPG rather than a straight ARPG, fans were furious. The d

I am deeply disappointed and amazed at the same time. While I welcome with great honesty immortal, The lack of no new news for Diablo III is inexcusable. You should have at least had something prepare to present for D3.

So basically you decided to destroy a beloved franchise that many of us grew up with in order to catch the money of the few whales that will pour money into this joke of a game? Just curious really, will there be microtransactions in this joke?

#Diablo seems to be @Blizzard_Ent playground. They kept experimenting with new stuff during D3, which often made its way into #worldofwarcraftSo this mobile "game" experience shouldn't surprise - I just hoped it wouldn't be their main announcement.

What's staggering and mystifying about the booing and the disappointment generally is that Blizzard were open about multiple Diablo titles under development.

"We know what many of you are hoping for and we can only say that “good things come to those who wait,” but evil things often take longer. We appreciate your patience as our teams work tirelessly to create nightmarish experiences worthy of the Lord of Terror," Blizzard said in a blog post.

Basically: we're working on a new Diablo. It's just not ready for a big reveal yet.

That's not enough for some, however. Other fans took a more sage approach, noting that not every game is for everyone and Diablo was no exception. There's also multiple teams working on different Diablo projects, a detail that went underappreciated in the moments following Immortal's announcement.

Gamers are fucking weird. We already knew that Diablo 4 wasn't going to be announced. We were explicitly told that. And we already knew a mobile game was in the works. We already know that multiple teams are working on multiple Diablo projects. Yet they're pissed. Fuck off

That's like saying Blizzard shat on the face of every person who wanted classic when they announced the last 3 expansions. They're separate teams. There was a guy on stage who was lead of the REMASTER team. Is the diablo team going to twiddle their thumbs until then? Once -

Part of the problem too is the nature of Blizzcon. It's billed not just as a convention, but a family event where people come together and listen. The fans at Blizzcon treat Blizzard more like a father figure than a corporate entity.

So in many ways, some disappointment is understandable. Fans have stuck by the developer for years, and not getting even a teaser of a mainline Diablo feels almost personal. Some noted that even just a public acknowledgement of what's in the works, much like Bethesda did with Starfield at E3, would have been appreciated.

Logically, however, Immortal makes all sorts of sense. The mobile platform suits that type of game well, and it lets Blizzard reach tons of fans that simply haven't been able to enjoy the existing Diablo games. Building out a mobile-focused MMO also opens up other kinds of opportunities down the road, too.

But that's not the narrative fans at Blizzcon, and Diablo fans who have been waiting in wings for years, want to hear.

Announcing the mobile Diablo Immortal in front of the BlizzCon crowd is like announcing a new golf-cart model in front of a crowd of Ferrari enthusiasts.

Exactly, it wasn't announced while people were sitting, hoping for something interesting to be announced, it was announced after they already got the tease they wanted then told "oh btw you can have this while you wait."

Blizzard posted in their blog about multiple projects being worked on but decided to only announce one - one that they must've known would be poorly received by most of their fans on its own...

They also made it the headline announcement for Blizzcon. They typically reserve the first slot for the biggest announcements...and then throw out a mobile game. Fans were getting hyped just based on its slot.

They should have dropped it near the end of Blizzcon and said "Here's a new mobile game. We're also working no a number of other Diablo projects but don't have anything to say yet".

Releasing a mobile game isn't a big deal - doing it in a way that people expect something more though is bad and garners exactly the reaction they got.

Also, not just that but don't try a water down the experience of the main franchise but reimagine it as they did with fallout shelter. From D1- to D3 we know a good dungeon experience, why would you think you could recreate that on the mobile platform is silly.

The console version of Diablo due to the limited nature of control afforded by controllers they had to reduce the monsters on screen and how aggressive their AI was. This is on another platform that is more limited control schemes which means the combat will be limited even further reducing the mayhem people expect and like from the PC(and even console) counterparts. You can see they even reduce the abilities to 4 from 6 and the amount of enemies is woeful as is there aggressiveness. https://youtu.be/Ab2-WW1skOM

Don't get me wrong, I'll try it out and give it a whirl but it won't capture that feeling that PC and even console provides. It will be lacklustre.

Obviously some concessions need to be made to suit the hardware and input mechanism. I guess I just don't agree that, broadly speaking, it's not possible to make a good dungeon crawl experience for mobile platforms, or that the idea of even trying to is silly.

"This is not Blizzard, and this is not our game.
We have moved on, without you. Enjoy your addicted fans playing on packed subways in countries we will never visit, who will throw money at you daily to revel in pay to win, soulless automatic gameplay."

That's why they're making this gumpf. They aren't out to revolutionise touchscreen gaming.
They're chasing that casual money stream. And you know what, we understand that. But not if you neglect your core audience.

Because Blizzcon attendees are their "core audience" and this is trying to wow them with something designed for a completely different audience.

It's like having people turn up for a Meshuggah concert and announcing that the show is being headlined by Nickelback. Sure, it might be popular with some people... but it sure as hell ain't popular with the people who are there.

@amstradhero I don't disagree that the way it was announced was handled poorly, but I guess I just don't think that's the same as neglecting their core audience. I understand people being disappointed because of the way they built it up but as long as they're still developing core Diablo content (which they've as much as said) then the core is being catered to, it's evidently just not time to announce anything yet.

Sometimes it's more about how you do something rather than what you've done. They had this as their headline slot in Blizzcon which is typically reserved for big announcements. They throw out a mobile game that the fanbase at Blizzcon isn't going to care about and expect a good reaction. It shows that they're pretty tone deaf and don't understand their target audience.

If they'd pushed it back to a later slot, announced it and at the same time re-iterated that they have other Diablo projects in the pipeline but aren't ready to say anything yet then it would have gone over much more smoothly.

They certainly could have. It's damned easy. Who was the gambling vendor in D2? Wirt wasn't it? Want to buy a random item from him it's just a micro-transaction away. Other possibilities; Running low on runes or gems? Just can't get that awesome Axe/sword/wand? Need more potions or town portal scrolls?

Basically anything that's a drop could be monetized by adding it to a vendor and using "blizzbucks".

The irony is way back when WOW was announced I thought the world of Diablo was a better fit for an MMO that Warcraft (action RPG -v- RTS). Of course that was looking at it from a PC gaming perspective.

The idea of playing a persistent MMO on my phone just gives me the shits for a bunch of reasons - small screen, lousy controls, poor battery life, (possibly) bad performance and of course the problems that come with always online and phones like hitting data cap and mobile dropouts.

I can understand Blizzard wanting to make a mobile version. But they could have (a) made a port of existing D3 and (b) actually announced something, *anything* to appease the PC/Console Diablo fans. Common sense would have been to lead with;
"Hey this is what we're working on, it's only a tease but we're working hard on D3 Xpac/D4."
*pause for audience oohs and ahhs*
" In the meantime we've got this mobile game to tide you over."
*audience goes "meh" but doesn't stone presenters to death*

It's not even being developed by Blizzard, it's NetEase. As in the company that publishes all Blizzard's stuff in China. They opened a US studio a few years ago and the game looks like just a reskin of one of their mobile games.

Damn right we're fucking pissed, Diablo has just been given the fucking C&C treatment. We had nothing last year, and this year just under two months ago Blizzard said that this years BLizzcon was going be Diablos.
The two weeks before to day they tell us to that no its not D4, so we temper out expectations think maybe another class pack for D3 or Diablo 2 remaster. You know something extremely reasonable and something that everyone would like. but no we get this fucking abomination. right after the announcement the Panel that was known as Diablo:whats Next was changed to be all about a shitty asset flip mobile game

The fact that they called it "Diablo: What's next?" and only mentioned a Mobile game that isn't even made by them is just beyond a joke. If they do in fact have a new real Diablo in the works how hard would it have been to at the very least tease SOMETHING.

Christ, the sense of entitlement.....it's a video game, in a video game franchise that happens to be loved, but you're actually actively angry at the developers because they didn't give you what you want? There's a bajillion other games out there to enjoy and occupy your time. I think some perspective may be needed if thing like this actually make you angry.

I think there's a fair bit of unease after D3. It's just a bit disappointing. It still has major issues and it's been years now. I can't help feeling like they dropped the ball. PC was their core customer base for so long.

It is true that the fans overhyped themselves in regards to diablo 4 but blizz did try and shut that down, that being said if they did say this years blizzcon was the year of diablo they really screwed the pooch, like @thyco said no d3 char or d2R just some asset flip....

i just assume any time something shitty like this happens it's activision being activision, especially if it has anything to do with chasing money.

It is true that the fans overhyped themselves in regards to diablo 4 but blizz did try and shut that down
Some did but personally I'd have been happy with just about anything... D1/2 remaster/remake/port, new dlc/update for D3, the rumoured netflix/animated series? Diablo: Battle Royale? Ok maybe not that one but I feel like almost anything would be better than just announcing a chinese mobile game with a Diablo skin...

Was feelin pretty hyped about WC3r, but between the price and this announcement the taste in my mouth soured pretty quick. I keep forgetting that at this point Blizzard is just the maggots animating a dead carcass.

I don't want to single you out specifically, but 'maggots animating a dead carcass' is exactly the kind of hyperbolic nonsense that is plaguing gamer expectations this last few years. Do you really think that's a reasonable reaction to a few things you're not personally interested in?

A remake that doesn't come close to other big brand remakes, priced the same as the likes of Spyro, Rachet and Crash. Which you can couple with pimping out Diablo to a free to play dev that charges an arm and a leg for content in their other titles.

Its not hyperbole, I just don't make excuses for why an established company can fuck us and get away with it. Do you really not think that complacency like yours is why publishers keep pumping out shit including loot boxes because they know there are fan bois that would literally pay for them to take a steaming poop on your chest.

They don't owe you, me or us anything. They're a company making products to sell.

Yes I loved the old blizzard too. But they don't owe me anything. And when they make a product i'm interested, like the StarCraft remaster, I buy it. That's how this relationship works. That's all there is too it.

Yes you are correct to a degree that as a business/company Blizz definitely do not owe us anything. And yes you have the option to "not buy" should you not like any of their products (I skipped Hearthstone coz as much as I love CCG's i'm over buying random packs and getting shite rares, WoW was a pass as I did not have time to invest in anymore MMO and I prefer DoTA so no HoS) but at the same time being passive and actively not paying attention to bad practices also leads to normalising really bad consumer practices...

Remember D3 being always online because... reasons? and now we have a console version that is perfectly fine (and as a PC Diablo player it pains me to say this) a much better experience if by virtue of no latency/disconnect issues... but we all took it on the chin and moved on because... hey its Blizzard! they have a reason and they're ok! Meanwhile any other company and the net would be up and arms over "always online DRM" ie. EA and Ubisoft

It's this kind of normalisation that's a big issue in the industry... its about pushing the boundaries of how much can we take control of our product that we are supposed to be providing and how we monetise it without everyone making a huge fuss

And that's kinda the point here =P It's not so much "having fun making a fuss" it's basically putting forward your opinion and drawing that line on the sand...

Yes I didn't buy it.... but for 1 person like me there are hundreds if not thousands who didn't bother or care. And that's fine... my issue is when that's taken as tacit approval of bad habits. And we are all screwed over in the end unless you make a point across.... (just look at SW:BF2)

And to be fair I don't mean you go full aggressive with language or shite stirring. I just mean a nuanced conversation or opinion on the matter to show disapproval. As I said I only half agree with this opinion. I appreciate where the sentiment is coming from but I don't quite agree at the level of vitriol is needed

To be fair a bunch of us did complain quite loudly about the always online requirements. But we were ignored or shouted down. And as you point out the console release proves we were right, that it was achievable and being online only was just Blizzard attempting to maintain tougher control over the game (*koffDRMkoff*).

I think it is very accurate to the situation. Blizzard is all suits these days, they just keep the name because even the slightest whiff of a Blizzard title cleanses the prison wallet and tightens the testicles of the fan boys. They get to make every shitty decision under the sun and complacency from fans that are just happy for the Blizzard dick means that they never have to question it.

See, that reply is just more hyperbole. You might have a reasonable complaint somewhere in there but when you wrap it in ad hominems and nonsense about maggots and taking dick you end up burying both the complaint itself and any legitimacy it might have.

This reaction is wholly disproportionate to its cause, and what you're doing contributes to the over-the-top bullshit gamers pull lately because people with less self control see talk like this and think vitriol is a reasonable response to something that's not for them.

It's your right to do that if you want, but don't pretend it's either rational or reasonable. You complained recently that politics has become tribalistic and petty; please don't contribute to making gaming the same way with this kind of hyperbole. There are much more effective ways to communicate the problems you have without resorting to this.

not really, as it was blizzard's parent company vivendi that brought activison. the crap we are dealing with now has only creeped in after Activision and Blizzard brought themselves out of vivendi which was only a few years ago

Yeah, Blizzard changed hands a lot in its earlier years. It first landed under Vivendi in 1998, so technically everything from Starcraft 1 to Diablo 3 inclusive (as well as most of Hearthstone's development) was under Vivendi's watch.

Seriously, I have a fucking massive bone to pick with anyone that says gamers are "entitled". That's a fucking load of bullshit that's been pushed by fuckwits since the Mass Effect 3 debacle.

Voicing criticism IS NOT ENTITLED. Saying "this is shit" is not entitled. It's being a fucking discerning consumer. The day that gamers are not allowed to criticise something and say "fuck no, I don't want that" or "that was a pile of shit" is the day that gaming as a medium because a stagnant fisting of customers.

Customers are allowed to vote with their wallets and say "no, that looks fucking terrible, I never asked for something like this."

Yeah but at the same time we also have a habit of getting pissed when something isn't what we expected. just because you don't expect something doesn't mean the company is wrong and needs to fix things either. vote with your wallets sure but, rampaging over a mobile game while they have already stated they are working on a core title does nothing for anyone.

In this case it was a perfect storm of fuckups from blizzard that created the rage. First you have a game that's historically been PC based so the majority of the fanbase resides there. Recently it's hit console, but it's essentially the same game as PC. That said, even the console release pissed of PC players since it has certain tweaks that PC didn't get. Secondly, they started hyping amazing diablo information to come at blizzcon, naturally arousing peoples interest. Finally, when they announced the *mobile* only game they didn't give people *anything* about the PC/console versions and they announced the mobile game isn't a port it's new content.

If they'd just made it a port current players would have been ambivalent or maybe a little annoyed. But because it's new content it means the only way to see that content is on mobile. If they'd also announced some meaningful PC related information fans would have been assuaged "oh cool we have this coming for us. That's ok then". And more importantly they shouldn't have been hyping it as a huge diablo announcement beforehand.

Oh and I forgot to mention that this wasn't an announcement online or to the press. It was at an event for the fans where the fans *pay* to be there. In some cases travelling from overseas just to be there. So it's not like the fans at the event were a few casuals, they are the hardest of the hardcore. It's no wonder their response was as passionate as it was.

I read your criticism of this last night and after thinking about it, I actually think it is appropriate.

It’s hyperbolic, but it’s also a useful analogy that hits the nail on the head on a few ways.

When you’re really invested in a franchise (which, by the way, Publishers usually encourage), it would definitely be an unpleasant shock to see that the entry you saw signs of on the horizon was not only different to expectations, but frankly abhorrent. Have you read up on NetEase or Crusaders of Light? The lack of integrity in that company or its monetizarion are deeply concerning.

Take into account all that this signals about the future direction of the franchise (D3’s online-only ‘we swear it’s not DRM’, and god-awful item drop-tables tooled towards coercing players toward the auction house) and there’s definitely fair cause to believe that the franchise that you loved is metaphorically dead to you and twisted into a grotesque parody of what you loved about it.

This, in the context of an annual convention (remember this when considering who is responsible for fan fervor around a franchise) which promised to centre on Diablo means that this compromise on gameplay experience and this chasing of a market that does not include its ardent fans signals very clearly - perhaps unintentionally - that they don’t see anything wrong with this change in direction or the tone-deaf ignorance of fan desires.

It’s a useful analogy, and the fact that it is emotionally-charged and evocative is entirely appropriate given the not inconsiderable resources Blizzard has devoted towards cultivating that emotional investment. That’s a road that cuts both ways - we can’t just pretend the road is only working when it’s one-way adoration making the publisher rich.

I don't question whether people are (or should be) disappointed, I think the announcement and the way it was presented is absolutely disappointing too. But there's a world of difference between a statement like "I'm incredibly disappointed and I feel Blizzard has really let down its fans, this was a real heartbreaker" and "Blizzard is like maggots animating a dead carcass". Emotional responses don't have to be hyperbolic, nor do they have to be insulting.

I strongly disagree that hyperbole is useful. It feeds one of the bigger problems plaguing gaming lately, the gaming equivalent of road rage - completely disproportional reactions to realistically minor problems. It's not a problem unique to gaming, you can see it in politics and in sports as well, and in the latter at least effort has been made to crack down on it.

Bottom line: It's not acceptable on the road, it's not acceptable in sport, it's not acceptable in gaming. It should not be defended nor normalised. Raising the bar is on all of us.

No! I won't be smeared like that, I work hard every chance I get to improve the Kotaku comments section. I'll stand up for Jason Schreier like Jason Schreier stands up for Activision. His tweet is his bond and its shining light guides me through this darkness.

I've read your other comments. I'm sure you think your sarcasm and mockery is funny, but it really isn't. If you're capable of being better than that, then be better than that. If you're not, well that's not good.

Well now you've made me feel like the guy asking the April Fools question being chastised by the distinguished game journalists as 'not funny'. To be fair you also expanded on it with 'not good'. The silent mobile majority thanks you.

Depends on what you consider a minor problem. Not being able to play the game at all is not a minor problem (from a gamers perspective).

I think the situation is also indicative that blizzard as a company now has now idea what their fans actually want or any empathy towards them. It really appears as though they are now, more than ever driven entirely by accountants and the bottom line.

Sure profit is important, if a game doesn't make money you can't continue to support it, or make new games. However, it shouldn't be the entire driving factor behind game production. There shouldn't be some accountant or executive sitting there saying "it must make at least an X% return on investment" or "mobile games are an untapped market lets get some of that pie".

I don't think vitriol and hyperbole is appropriate for major problems either, I said 'minor problems' here because that's what this story in particular is about, and also what complaints I was able to parse from vaegrand's comments.

If we entertain that though, let's take a non-gaming hypothetical for comparison. If you bought a car and got it home but the next day the engine seized, would a reasonable person (who understands that defects do sometimes happen) have the car taken back for free servicing or even a refund, or would a reasonable person start hurling insults and calling the dealership staff maggots? If there was a history of it happening, would a reasonable person say "Okay, their quality control is terrible, I'm not going to buy from them any more" or would a reasonable person suggest that anyone who did buy from them just liked 'taking company dick'?

I don't have any problem with people disliking Blizzard, or the announcement, or how it was worked up before Blizzcon only to be a let down. I share some of those myself. And I agree with your assertion that making games shouldn't be entirely about profit. What I have a problem with specifically is over-the-top responses and hyperbole to these things. I hold that they're unproductive, harmful to the general quality of discourse, and have a greater chance of pushing the recipient into shrug mode because there's no rational complaint contained in nor any reasonable way to respond to "your company are just maggots animating a dead carcass".

See we obviously disagree on a fundamental issue - it is a major problem.

As for the car analogy, it really depends on the reaction from the dealer. If it's poor (as has often proved to be the case) then getting angry and blowing up is not at all surprising.

I think though that the car dealer analogy is poor in any case. It'd be more like Toyota saying "we've got an amazing new Land Cruiser announcement coming at the car show". Then when it comes out instead of being a new Land Cruiser they announce that a little two wheel drive, two door hatchback is the new Land Cruiser.

While I understand that you don't like hyperbole, and it can sometimes be detrimental, it seems like sometimes it's the only way to get their attention. People have been politely complaining about problems for years (WoW's beta tests are a perfect example) and they've been basically ignored until months down the track when a million people start getting hyperbolic about the problems.

A real world comparison is the polite customer at a store who gets fobbed off because they don't make a fuss versus the one would gets loud and belligerent, causing a scene and yelling that they'll get the ACCC involved. It's easy to ignore the first because there is no negative press, no bad publicity. But it's hard to ignore the vocal customer who is getting attention from other people.

I should point out that I don't *like* the customer "overreaction" but it's something we've been trained into by years of poor customer service. If the corporate reactions to polite complaints were better there'd be no need for aggressive and hyperbolic complaints.

We do seem to disagree, I definitely don't think anything here amounts to a 'major problem'. That said, I'm glad we can respectfully disagree. There are things we do agree on too, eg. I do think companies (collectively) should be more receptive to calm feedback. I don't think hyperbole is the right response to that, but it's good to know we're on the same page on at least some things.

All they needed to do was do the same thing Nintendo did for Metroid Prime 4 at E3 this year. Have a black screen and have flames flicker up from the bottom of the screen. Have some Diablo 1 dungeon style drums start playing and have the number 4 appear on the screen. That's it. The crowd would piss themselves in delight, Blizzard would be heroes and everyone would be happy.

Instead they let out a wet fart into the mic, and stood there smiling as if they were proud.

Part of the problem too is the nature of Blizzcon. It's billed not just as a convention, but a family event, an event where people come together and listen. The fans at Blizzcon treat Blizzard more like a father figure, a family than a corporate entity.

This right here. I don't blame Blizzard and I don't blame gamers - I blame Blizzcon; Exactly what type of fan do you think is willing to buy a ticket to that kind of event?

To be blunt, they should have known better. The real sin wasn't that they released Diablo for mobile, it's that they release *only* Diablo for mobile and didn't talk about anything else. If they'd showed *something* for a Diablo 4 and then done a trunkated "oh and here's a mobile game" they cold have avoided all this crap. And it blows my mind that they don't know that.

Wow, another waste of a day so far, expecting a new game finally and they pull this mobile nonsense. I mean they just take money for everything, and not little amounts either, and don't really provide any progress.

Hell they didn't even need to make a new game or even any additions to the game... just pull another 20AUD character addition like the Necromancer before and people will lap it up (never mind that the concept of paying 20 bucks just for ONE character with nothing else besides extra cosmetics is practically a rip off but yeah...)

Nope they had to pull an EA and expected the net to overlook it because of all the banked positive attitude they built up over the years.

I paid the $20 for the extra stash space. The extra character and couple new maps was candy on top. (that's a joke btw)

Honestly, I don't have a problem with them releasing an addon similar to the Necromancer one. If it's priced reasonably that's fine with me. My only issue is when the price is approaching that of a full game.

Yet another ridiculous downvoting hysteria. People didn’t get what they want so instead of judging the thing for what it is, they are downvoting it for what it isn’t.

Don’t get my wrong I am bitterly disappointed there was no new Diablo but come on, I am not going to go out of out my way to demonised (hehe) the mobile game or the people making it, because my expectations weren’t matched

instead of judging the thing for what it is, they are downvoting it for what it isn’t.
Have you looked at what it is? It's a chinese grinding game with (currently) no character customisation/gear changes (just bland looking classes that don't change), 12 skills per class (though you can only choose 5 and all have CDs, no resources, so casters are garbage), loot is basically non-existant as they haven't decided how it will work yet (the game they ripped-off didn't have a loot system) and possibly how they will make money from it - though that bit is just speculation on my part....

Some of that will obviously change as it's not finished but it's not being made by Blizzard so I don't have much faith and can only really judge it by what I see now - we shouldn't judge it by what it isn't as you say.

Yes I have seen as much as everything else, and have zero interest in it, but the thing is you have no proof for half of what you are saying.

Furthermore you can’t tell me the all downvoting has anything to do with the game itself, as in your concerns, so much of the downvoting is about people voicing how they are upset that this is not a new Diablo. That’s the stupidity I was taking about... downvoting as a form of protest, for something

you have no proof for half of what you are saying.
What? Did you think I just pulled that all out of my arse or something? It's all straight from either the DIablo panel or Alex's article (here on Kotaku) after playing the demo himself...

they arent reporting their displeasure at THIS game but the fact that it is not the game they want. That sounds extremely idiotic. Did I want a stupid mobile game? No. Did I want a new DIablo? Oh gosh yet.

When I heard the news my reaction wasnt to downvote and go on posting hysterical outrage spree as if that would somehow conjure the game I want into being. I am adult enough to know that there will be a new Diablo game, eventually, there is no way their wont be one. But in the meantime people who like mobile games will get this. Lucky them, I hope they enjoy it.

Do you ever drop the holier than thou attitude? Any time there is outrage about something you act like you are somehow morally superior by decrying how people react.

People are allowed to voice their displeasure at this decision however they like bud. Stop acting like you are some kind of superior being for not downvoting a YouTube video or posting a tweet. You come across as a pretentious douche.

No I am just an adult. With adult level of reaction to a first world issue like this. One person's intelligent thoughts is always going to be another persons 'pretentious douche' reaction. Sure people are free to say whatever they want and act however they want. Just as other people are free to call them out for it. At no point did I say they shouldnt speak up, just merely the means and scale.

From where I stand you are equally deploying a 'holier than thou attitude'. Yet I am at least willing to see where you are coming from, even if I dont agree,but I always have the sense you are never willing to do that to me.

as i said yesterday, im not mad, im fucking pissed off. its not just this, but its also how shit BFA has been and how blizzard for a while now have been taking us for granted. Well though out constructive feed back ignored every single time.Massive issues pointed out in druing Alphas and Betas and on the PTR all ignored. Issues that everyone can comming form a mile away only to have Blizzard say we wrong and then having those issue manifest.

This isnt Hindsight.

Lets not forget, Blizzard cancelled Lord of the Clans, Starcraft Ghost and Titan because they never lived up to their standard, and yet somehow this Mobile asset flip that its not even being develop by Blizzard is ok by their standards? give me a fucking break

Honestly I'd be happy with another expansion for D3 that includes a significant rebalance. That game has never come close to what it should've been. I shouldn't have to grind for so many hours just to unlock a difficulty level where there's a chance of me dying. I remember many times in D2 running from mobs in fear of my life. That just NEVER happens in D3. I love the atmosphere but it just feels like a waste of time.

A D2 remaster would've been great. D4? Yeah I guess. But after D3 it's not exciting. But Diablo mobile. Ha! That really is funny to announce the way they did. What a let down!

Some people's reactions are over the top for sure, but the frustration is understandable. Blizzard were somewhat naive to build up the event as a Diablo-fest then show the mostly PC-loving crowd a mobile Diablo mod and not expect a hostile reaction.

For the love of God, they have so much money, how can their community managers/marketing departments/sales teams etc etc not have foreseen this coming? At the very least some kind of cinematic for D4 would have kept the masses content.

I honestly wonder this myself, and not just about their Diablo debacle, but also the bad press they gain from WoW announcements and to a lesser extent their other titles. I don't know whether they literally have no one in their team saying "Are you sure this is a good idea, there's gonna be fan backlash" or maybe they do but the executives are just looking at bottom line saying "Don't care, it'll make money. Just do it".

Are there small, ignored dissenting voices among the Blizzard staff or are they all so blind to the reality of what they're doing?

The funny thing is.... we already saw this happen during E3 with EA's CnC mobile shenanigans..

I mean they cannot seriously missed all the backlash from that anouncement and expect things to go great for them just coz Blizzard?

Then again a lot of people have been willing to put up with a lot of shenanigans from Blizzard because of all the good will they had over the years (splitting SC2 into 3, always online for D3, etc.) but you can only cash in on so much good will for so long before you become an EA =/

So, just got back from the trailers and oooh boy. They're deleting comments too? I didn't read any of the deleted comments so I can't say if they were reasonable or typical gamer rage, but there seems to be a lot of them deleted. And yet no one has mentioned that yet?

If you can believe what some of the people who've had comments deleted are saying, they're fairly innocuous. Sure they're angry ranting, but they're not active death threats or hate speech or outright swearing. Maybe some of them deserve deletion but not all. That said, maybe deleting a root post deletes all the posts that stem from it?

I guess the whole expect the worst and you won't be disappointed applies here?

Blizzards been on a downward trend in my books since the stupid decision to split SC2 into 3 "games" all those years back followed up with the inane decision for D3 to be "online only" because reasons...

They still make great games that I enjoy... but it's a tad bit obvious the Activision buyout has shown the decision making in Blizz is really starting to veer towards the EA/UBisoft "games a service" philosophy to get more out of your wallets. If it wasn't for the great quality and effort that the folks left at Blizz pour into crafting actually very well done worlds, stories and an actually very good well polished game at release they would have been derided as an EA by now.... but the cracks are starting to really show their descent into an EA style company.

D3 being forced online was the canary in the coal mine screaming of dire portents before it died. Unheeded.

There was no good gameplay reason to force it online only. The console port proved that. It was publisher douchebaggery - plain and simple. The worst kind of DRM. It was transparent and it didn’t get harped on, called out, and slammed anywhere near as much or for as long as needed to call the developers to account, to get a fucking admission. The lie just went unacknowledged and everyone shrugged and forgot about ever getting them to actually speak the truth about their old bullshit.

A bunch of us did complain and took a stand. I personally would never have bought or played D3 because of the always online fact. However, they literally gave it to me for free since I had WoW.

I wonder whether that clever marketing ploy contributed greatly to its success. Millions of WoW players basically getting the game for free then playing and potentially using the RMAH (at the time) seems like a great strategy to boost sales and interest.

@alexwalker can you confirm or deny that the lines to play this game were virtually empty? I've seen a couple of photos, but photos alone can be spun to mean anything. Maybe they were taken before people were allowed or during the middle of some other massive announcement.

from everything ive read on diablo sub reddit ( including from the guy ask if this was an april fools joke) there was people playing it but no there were no lines like there would be to try out a new wow expansion/diablo class/overwatch character etc

Two elements here (cc @john_stalvern). There's a ton of stations - mobiles are easier to set up in that regard - and the stations have been mostly full throughout. It doesn't take long at all to get a game, but that's also a combination of how much demo content is there and how quickly they're able to shuffle people in and out.

I kind of understand what Blizzard wants to do, they want to diversify their games from being PC only to consoles and mobile. so they took the easiest franchise (Diablo) and went with it

the Switch version isn't too shabby and naturally a mobile version makes sense but you got to be deaf and blind to the community to not understand that what people really want to know is where your franchise is going. is there D4? an xpack to D3? who the heck knows, the entire Diablo panel was devoted to the mobile game

I don't disagree, but I see Fortnite as a perfect example of how to do it right. The mobile version is essentially the same game. What are you getting? Fortnite on a different platform, not more fresh Fortnite content that is only available on a different platform.

Guess this explains Jason’s overly defensive tweet about Red Shirt Guy, who everyone else has hailed a hero. Also explains the second half of this article. And it should help inform Kotaku’s coverage of this train wreck going forward.

No, it doesn't. Kotaku Australia and Kotaku in the US are owned by separate companies. I travelled to Blizzcon with Blizzard, but the US isn't involved in that and completely separate. We've got more Diablo coverage today, so you'll be able to see for yourself. Please don't sling mud at writers for no good reason.

In the wake of community and political pressure following the livestreaming of the horrific terrorist attacks at Christchurch on Friday, Australian ISPs have started blocking some sites used to rehost footage of the livestream, including the infamous 8chan image board.